Zug And Zurich Dominate The Swiss Crypto Scene

In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the cantons of Zug and Zurich are the largest and most developed hubs for crypto assets.

According to a new report by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Zug hosted 32% of the total 399 crypto asset companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in June 2026, while Zurich accounted for 26%. Combined, these two locations housed 58% of all providers.

The report, released in August 2026, provides an assessment of the crypto asset investment ecosystem in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, examining market developments, providers, services, and infrastructure.

The research found that in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, crypto asset companies are concentrated in Zug, Zurich, Liechtenstein and Geneva. These four locations collectively accounted for 79% of all crypto asset companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in June 2026.

This concentration is consistent with Zug’s position as the center of Switzerland’s so-called Crypto Valley, the established financial ecosystems of Zurich and Geneva, and Liechtenstein’s specialized legal and regulatory environment for financial and blockchain-based services.

The Crypto Valley is a blockchain hub centered primarily in the Swiss canton of Zug. Its formation began in 2013 when Johann Gevers relocated his crypto startup Monetas to Zug. A year later, Vitalik Buterin and early team members of the Ethereum Foundation chose Zug as the legal and operational base for the organization.

Zurich and Geneva, meanwhile, are the two primary financial centers of Switzerland. Zurich is the biggest financial hub in the country and one of the most important worldwide. The canton is home to 15,000 offices of various banking institutions, leading research institutes, and a cluster of entrepreneurs.

Geneva is a top global financial hub specializing in private wealth management, commodity trade finance, and sustainable banking. Its financial sector contributes about 12.9% to the city’s economy and supports roughly 38,000 jobs.

Both Geneva and Zurich are also recognized as leading fintech hubs worldwide, ranking second and third, respectively, in the 2026 Fintech Hub Ranking.

Liechtenstein, meanwhile, is a leading jurisdiction in the regulation of blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology (DLT). The government recognized early on the need for a clear and sustainable regulatory framework and in 2020, with the Law on Tokens and Trusted Technology Service Providers, created a comprehensive legal framework for the digital asset economy.

B2B and investment services dominate

The research also found that most crypto asset companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein cater to business clients, consistent with these countries’ status as financial hubs. Notably, 34% of crypto asset companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein focus exclusively on business clients, while 51% serve both business and private clients. In contrast, only 15% exclusively serve retail customers

Investment services are the most prevalent product and service offerings, provided by 83.5% of all crypto asset companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and 333 ventures. Infrastructure services follow closely, accounting for 78% of ventures or 313 companies, while post-trading infrastructure accounted for 59.4% of all companies, or 237 entities.

Crypto asset trading volumes in Switzerland

The report also shares crypto asset trading volumes. In the first half of 2026, crypto asset trading originating from Switzerland reached CHF 114 billion, representing a mere 0.1% of the global trading volume on crypto exchanges during the period, which stood at CHF 74,534 billion.

Looking at Swiss volume in particular, crypto derivatives exchanges generated the largest Swiss trading volume in H1 2026, amounting to CHF 81.3 billion and accounting for 71.3% of all Swiss trading volumes.

On centralized exchanges, Swiss trading volume during the first half of 2026 stood at CHF 26.8 billion, representing 23.5% of all trading activity from Switzerland, followed by decentralized exchanges with 5.2% and CHF 5.9 billion in trading volume.

The report notes that while globally, the adoption of stablecoins is on the rise, the use of CHF-denominated stablecoins remains quite limited. At the end of June 2026, the supply of publicly tracked CHF-denominated stablecoins amounted to approximately CHF 75.7 million, representing just a small fraction of the total supply of USD-denominated stablecoins, which stood at US$269 billion (CHF 216.3 billion) at the time.

However, recent developments, including regulatory, technological, and market-related initiatives, seek to promote wider adoption of stablecoins in Switzerland.

In April 2026, UBS, PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Zurcher Kantonalbank, BCV, and Swiss Stablecoin joined forces to launch a CHF stablecoin sandbox to test potential use cases in Switzerland. The sandbox will be conducted throughout 2026 and is open to additional interested institutions.

At the government level, the Federal Council is currently looking to introduce new licensing categories tailored to the crypto sector, namely the payment instrument institution licence for issuers of fiat-backed stablecoins, and the crypto institution licence for firms providing services such as custody, trading, brokerage, and certain staking activities involving crypto-assets.

These changes aim to increase to attractiveness of Switzerland as a fintech and blockchain center. As of mid-2026, the proposal was still in the legislative process.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by febdwithart via Magnific

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